Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on September 11, 2008
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn154
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Distinct Roles of Prefrontal Cortical Subregions in the Iowa Gambling Task
1 King's College London, Section of Neuroscience and Emotion, Division of Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry, 2 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK, 3 Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, 4 Université Montpellier 1, Inserm U888, Montpellier, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier France, 5 Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Address correspondence to Dr Natalia Lawrence, Wales Institute of Cognitve Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Tower Building, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK. Email: LawrenceNS{at}cardiff.ac.uk.
The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) assesses decision-making under initially ambiguous conditions. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging data suggest, albeit inconsistently, the involvement of numerous prefrontal cortical regions in task performance. To clarify the contributions of different prefrontal regions, we developed and validated a version of the IGT specifically modified for event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. General decision-making in healthy males elicited activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Choices from disadvantageous versus advantageous card decks produced activation in the medial frontal gyrus, lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and insula. Moreover, activation in these regions, along with the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and secondary somatosensory cortex, was positively associated with task performance. Lateral OFC and pre-SMA activation also showed a significant modulation over time, suggesting a role in learning. Striato-thalamic regions responded to wins more than losses. These results both replicate and add to previous findings and help to reconcile inconsistencies in neuropsychological data. They reveal that deciding advantageously under initially ambiguous conditions may require both continuous and dynamic processes involving both the ventral and dorsal prefrontal cortex.
Key Words: ambiguity • decision-making • medial frontal gyrus • orbitofrontal cortex • pre-supplementary motor area • wins
Natalia S. Lawrence and Fabrice Jollant contributed equally to this article.
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